An escalator is one type of passenger conveyor. Escalators have proven useful for carrying passengers between different levels of a building, for example. Typical escalator systems include a plurality of steps that move based upon operation of a motor and drive system.
In an effort to reduce energy consumption, it has been proposed to operate a passenger conveyor in a regenerative mode in which the motor operates as a generator for providing electricity to a source of power when the steps are moving downward. One drawback associated with previous proposals in this regard is that they are limited to relatively light duty escalator systems. Larger currents associated with heavier duty escalator motors require relatively expensive regenerative drive components for handling the relatively high currents that occur in a regenerative mode. The additional expense of such components tends to outweigh any cost-savings benefit that might be obtained using a regenerative drive.